Apparatus for ornamenting articles



July 14, 1970 c. E. STEVENS 3,520,086

APPARATUS FOR ORNAMENTING ARTICLES Filed July 3, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 14, 1970 c. E. STEVENS APPARATUS FOR ORNAMENTING ARTICLES 4 Sheets-Sheet :5

Filed July 5, 1967 INVENTOR CHARLES E. STEVENS BY at '7 I afi y (A'TTO RNEYSV July 14, 1970 c. E. STEVENS 3,520,086

APPARATUS FOR ORNAMENTING ARTICLES Filed July 3, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 mm FIG. lOb

INVENTOR 2 CHARLES E. STEVENS ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office 3,520,086 Patented July 14, 1970 APPARATUS FOR ORNAMENTING ARTICLES Charles Edward Stevens, East Grand Rapids, Mich., as-

signor to John M. Exton as trustee of the trust known for business purposes as the Exton Development Company, New York, N.Y.

Filed July 3, 1967, Ser. No. 650,967 Int. Cl. B24c 3/00 U.S. CI. 51-14 22 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for mass producing engraved glass articles comprises a plurality of spaced apart abrasive blasting stations and a main conveyor for moving the glass articles through each of said stations at which a different portion of the design is formed. The articles are contained in individual holders secured to the main conveyor and, at each blasting station, a separate station conveyor brings an individual mask into suitable registration with each of the retained glass articles, after which the design is formed by blasting through the openings of the masks.

The masks are desirably less than one-eighth inch in thickness and comprising a sheet of plastic material reinforced by a metallic plate having openings larger than the openings on the plastic sheet, whereby the openings through which blasting occurs diverge in a direction away from the surface of the article to be blasted.

The present invention is related to the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,328,295 of Arthur W. Hewitt issued on July 4, 1967, and assigned to the assignee of this application.

The above mentioned Hewitt patent relates principally to a method for forming a three-dimensional design on a glass article. The basic Hewitt process produces engraved glassware which closely resembles expensive sculptured glassware, yet the process lends itself to inexpensive mass production technique.

In the Hewitt process, a three-dimensional design is blasted onto a glass article by successively unmasking progressively larger areas of the articles so that, in effect, each blasting step cuts a' different depth into the glass. Because of the successive unmasking steps (which may include the use of separate masks for each step) the cut which ultimately is to be the deepest is the first cut formed in the glass by the abrasive blasting. Thereafter, each successive blasting operation deepens the previous cuts whereby the ultimate design essentially consists of a plurality of discrete surfaces blasted into the glass (although such surfaces thereafter may be smoothed over to a degree).

The main object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus and process for ornamenting glass articles by abrasive blasting techniques, and, particularly, for improving upon the apparatus disclosed in the Hewitt patent in regard to the mass production of such articles.

Briefly, according to the invention, a main conveyor carries a plurality of glass articles to be ornamented through a number of spaced blasting stations. Each of the glass articles is retained in a holder which is designed to receive a mask at each of the different stations. Application of the masks at the individual stations is provided by means of separate station conveyors to which the masks are attached and which move so that the masks are caused to mate or mesh with the holder forms. The main conveyor and the station conveyors move past the blasting nozzles in tandem so that blasting occurs through the respective masks after which the masks are removed automatically as the articles emerge from each blasting station. The conveyors associated with the different blasting stations contain different masks so that different cuts can be formed successively without human intervention.

The mask itself is an important element in the overall process and, according to the invention, comprising a sheet of plastic material laminated to a metallic reinforcing member. The thickness of the mask is less than oneeighth of an inch and the openings of the mask, through which the design is formed, diverge in a direction away from the surface of the article.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top view of two blasting stations (shown schematically) and the apparatus for conveying the articles to be ornamented through the stations;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view in section along the line 33 of FIG. 2 showing certain details of a preferred masking arrangement and article holder of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view along the line 4 -4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a top view of a representative mask as used at a first blasting station according to the invention;

FIG. 7 is a side view in section along the line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 7a is an exaggerated side view showing the walls of a mask opening according to a feature of the inventlon;

FIG. 8 is a top view of a second mask which would be used at the second blasting station in a two step process and subsequent to the use of the representative mask of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a side view of a glass tumbler having been ornamented in accordance with the representative masks of FIGS. 6-8; and

FIGS. 10a, 10b, and 10c illustrate a variation of the masking arrangement and the results achieved thereby.

The present invention is intended in part to permit realization of the full potential of the Hewitt patent insofar as the mass production of ornamented glass articles is concerned. To this extent, and in the preferred embodiment, it is contemplated that an article to be ornamented will have at least two different masks applied thereto with a separate blasting operation occurring after each masking step. However, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that numerous features of the invention would be applicable to the ornamentation of articles in accordance with processes other than those disclosed in the Hewitt patent such as, for example, a simple blasting operation wherein a one depth initial or other indicium is engraved on the glass. Indeed, as will become apparent, certain facets of the invention would be applicable to the ornamentation of articles other than glass.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a typical arrangement of two blasting stations 10 and 12 in accordance with the invention. Since any number of blasting stations may be employed, only two stations are illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, with the broken lines indicating that additional station(s) could be placed between the two illustrated stations 10 and 12. For many purposes, two stations will be sufficient to achieve a highly pleasing three-dimensional effect on the ornamented article.

Both of the blasting stations 10 and 12 are identical and each comprises a cabinet 14, in which the actual blasting occurs, a blast generator 16 and a dust collector 18 The various parts are suitably connected by standard conduits 20 and 21. Since the invention can be practiced with known abrasive blasting techniques, the apparatus used for this purpose is not described herein in detail. By way of example, three properly arrayed nozzles 31, 32 and 33 (FIG. 2) adapted to blast in an upward direction may be arranged within each cabinet 14 so that the articles are blasted as they pass through the cabinet.

Each of the parts so far described are known for other purposes; for example, apparatus made and sold by the Vacu-Blast Corporation of Belmont, Calif. under Model No. XLC or 12008 may be used as a blast generator and dust collector if continuous suction blasting is desired. It continuous pressure blasting is indicated, Vacu-Blast and others can supply this equipment also. The barasive may comprise aluminum oxide, silicon carbide or other common abrasive grain in a mesh size from coarse to very fine depending on the effect desired. Similarly, the blasting pressure may be varied throughout a range of to 100 psi. in order to vary the depth of cut and/ or speed of cutting.

A main conveyor, consisting of two conveyor chains 22 and 24 is driven by respective pairs of sprocket wheels 26 and 28 (or more, if necessary) to convey the articles to be ornamented through stations and 12. A plurality of article holders 3-6 are pivotally secured to both conveyor chains '22 and 24 in a manner described below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5. The article to 'be ornamented, such as a glass tumbler 38, is nested in the holder 36 and a clamp 40 is connected to each of the holders 36 and adapted to press the glass article 38 into engagement with the mask at least during the actual blasting operation. The precise construction of the article holder 36 and clamp 40 is described below in detail in connection with FIGS. 3 to 5.

Each of the blasting stations 10 and 12 also includes a station conveyor comprising pairs of chains 42, 43 and 44, 45, (the latter not being shown) respectively. Each of these chains is driven by a pair of sprocket wheels 46, 47 and 48, 49, respectively. The conveyor chains 42, 43 and 44, 45 are identical and travel at the same rate of speed as the main conveyor chains .22, 24.

Between each pair of the station conveyor chains 42, 43 (and 44, 45) are mounted a plurality of continuously spaced mask carriers 50 which hold the masks to be applied (not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) against the glass article 38. Each article holder 36 includes a bottom aperture (not illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2) which is adapted to receive the mask mounted on a mask carrier 50' prior to entry of one of the glass articles 38 and its carrier 36 into the blasting cabinet 14. In other words, referring to FIG. 2, as one of the glass holders 36 moves from position A to position B, the mask which is carried by the mask carrier 50 in position A rotates around the axis of sprocket wheel 46 and into a close fitting engagement with the glass tumbler 38 in the article carrier 36. Hence, as the article and mask move through the cabinet 14, the blasting nozzles 31, 32 and 3-3 cause a design to be engraved upon the glass article 38.

When the ornamented article emerges from cabinet 14 at the first station 10, the movement of the station conveyor chains 42 and 43 causes the successive masks on the mask carriers 50 to be removed from the corresponding article holders 3-6. Article holder 36, however, continues its movement on the main conveyor chains 22, 24 to the next station 12 (or any intermediate station) where the identical process is repeated. The masks which are mounted on the mask carriers 50 secured to the second station conveyor chains 44 and 45 at station 12 differ from the masks mounted on the mask carriers 50 at the station 10 so that as the glass tumblers 38 within their holders 36 travel through station 12, the numblers are either further engraved or completed, as the case may be. As previously noted, in the preferred embodiment, the masks at subsequent stations (such as 12) will uncover the area uncovered by all previous masks plus an additional area in order to create a three-dimensional effect in accordance with the Hewitt patent. Obviously, however, this is not mandatory in practicing the present invention.

Referring now to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the novel masking arrangement of the invention as preferably employed in 4 FIGS. 1 and 2 is shown in detail. Additionally, these figures illustrate a specific article holder 36 and the precise arrangement of the various parts during the blasting operation.

The main conveyor chains 22, 24 as well as the station conveyor chain 42, 43 are of identical construction, and, for example, may comprise a continuous series of rollers 54 adjacent pairs being connected at the outer ends of their axles 55 by overlapping links. 56. L-shaped linking plates 58 may be secured at the inner ends of each pair of adjacent axles 55 for mounting purposes as described below. A suitable chain for this purpose is the ASA. Double Pitch Roller Chain manufactured by the Chain Belt Company under the chain number C-2062 with the bent lug and one hole, one side attachment A-1.

The rollers 54 of the main conveyor chains 22 and 24 are adapted to ride on angle irons 60 and 62 secured to the inner surface of the cabinet 14 as the article to be ornamented passes through the blasting area. The rollers 54 of the station conveyor chains 42 and 43 similarly ride on suitable base plates 64 and 66, respectively, secured to the interior of the cabinet 14 beneath the angle irons 60 and 6-2.

The article holder 36 comprises a resilient chuck 70 retained in a chuck holder consisting of vertical side walls 72 and 74 (FIG. 3) and front and rear walls 76 and 78 (FIG. 5). The chuck 70 may be made of a cast (or fabricated) rubber-like material, and, for example, may be of the material sold under the trademark Flexane by the Devcon Corporation of Danvers, Mass. Chuck 70 may be held within the chuck holder by screws (not shown) or the like so as to be readily interchangeable to accommodate dilferent articles.

A pair of opposing short axles 77 and 79 extend horizontally from the upstanding walls 72 and 74, respectively, into respective bearings 80 and 82, from which mounting plates 84 and 86 extending outwardly so that the article holder 36 can be secured to suitable ones of the bent lugs 58 on the main conveyor chains 22 and 24. The axles 77 and 79 are immovably secured to the walls 72 and 74 and respective plates 84 and 86 (which may be integrally formed with the respective axles) but the bearings 80 and 82, of course are free to rotate.

The mask carrier 50 comprises two slotted L-shaped retainer members 92 and 94, adapted to be positioned outside of the walls 72 and 74 of the article holder 36. A base plate 96 is fastened to the upper surfaces of the horizontal portions of retainer members 92, 94 by suitable fasteners such as bolts 97 and 98. The central portion of the base plate 96 is stamped and bent to form two curved slanting support Walls 100 and 102. In an obvious fashion, the curved shape of the slanted walls 100 and 102 will be defined to suitably account for the shape of the article to be engraved For example, where a frustoconically formed glass tumbler is to be ornamented, the wall 102 will extend slightly beyond the wall 100 in a vertical direction, assuming that the axis of the tumbler is horizontal. As shown, the chuck 70 may be molded to form a close fit with the walls 100, 102 and base plate 96 when the station'conveyor chains insert the mask carrier 50 into the article holder 36 as explained above with regard to FIGS. 1 and 2. The slant of walls 100 and 102 (see FIG. 5) may be selected to facilitate insertion of masks carrier 50 into article holder 36 during the conveyor movement.

The mask is secured to the mask carrier 50 and, as shown most clearly in FIGS. 6 and 7, includes a shaped metal plate 104 which comprises terminating horizontal portions 106, 107 leading inwardly into respective upwardly slanted sections 108, 109 which meet in a curved central area 110 suitably shaped to fit adjacent the article to be ornamented. The horizontal portion 106 contains mounting apertures 111, 112 and the horizontal portion 107 includes mounting apertures 113, 114 to permit the mask plate 104 to be fastened to the base plate 96 by respective pairs of rivets 115 and 117 (FIGS. 3-5).

The surface of the curved area 110 through which the blasting is to occur is covered with a thin plastic sheet 116. The plastic sheet 116 will have appropriate apertures 118 corresponding to apertures 119 in the curved metal section 110 to expose the glass article to the abrasive blasting. Registration pins 120 may be inserted in suitable registry holes 121 and 122 within the plastic sheet 116 and metal plate 104 to insure that the respective apertures 118 and 119 are accurately aligned before the plastic sheet 116 is cemented or otherwise adhered to the metal support 104. By way of example, rubber cement applied to the contacting metal and plastic sur faces (with the metal roughened) is a suitable adhesive. The construction of the mask is an important feature of the invention and is described in greater detail below independently of the discussion relating to the mechanism for actually applying the mask to the glass article.

The slotted retaining members 92 and 94 (FIGS. 3-5) of mask holder 50 also include outwardly extending short axles 124 and 126 which are journaled in suitable bearings 128 and 130 of the same construction as bearings 80 and 82. Axles 124 and 126 may be integrally formed with outwardly extending mounting lugs 132 and 134 which are fastened to appropriate ones of the bent lugs 58 of the station conveyor chains 42 and 43, respectively, by means of screws 137 and 138.

The vertical portions of retaining members 92 and 94 are each slotted as shown at 139 (FIG. 4) and the top portions thereof appropriately shaped as shown at 145 (FIGS. 3 and 4) to facilitate the mating of the mask support 50 and article holder 36. Also, the shape of the slots 139 will be such as to substantially prevent relative movement in a horizontal plane between article holder 36 and mask support 50 by firm retention of axles 77 and 79.

A pair of elongated upper braces 140 and 142 are secured by screws 141 and suitable spacers 143 to mounting plates 144 and 146 which are fastened to the interior of the cabinet 14. A pair of elongated lower braces 148 and 150 are similarly secured to the base plates 64 and 66 by screws 149 and spacers 151. The braces 140 and 142 cooperate with the chuck holder bearings 80 and 82 while the mask holder bearings 128 and 130 ride on the lower braces 148 and 150. The braces are positioned so that as the conveyor chains pull the mask and glass article through a cabinet 14, pressure is exerted on the respective bearings to urge the plastic mask 116 into a close fitting contact with the article holder 36.

The clamp 40 of FIGS. 1 and 2 is pinned at 152 between two lugs 154 extending rearwardly from the chuck holder wall 78 (FIGS. 4 and The clamp further comprises an arm 156 which extends upwardly from the pin 152 into a horizontal portion 158 extending generally parallel over the article to be ornamented. Two downwardly depending legs 160 and 162 are formed to properly grasp the article 38 (see FIG. 3), and rubber pads 164 and 166 are fastened to the bottom of legs 160 and 162 to prevent damage to the article 138 during the process. A small arm 168 extends upwardly from the horizontal portion 158 and a pair of rollers 170 and 172 are pinned to arm 168 at 174. The rollers 170 and 172 are adapted to contact a curved runway 176 suitably mounted or for-med within the cabinet 14 so that as the article moves through the cabinet, the runway 176 exerts a force on the rollers 170 and 172 pivoting the clamp member 40 downwardly to press the article 38 tightly into contact with mask 116.

This type of clamping arrangement is desirable in that it is fully automatic and no human intervention is required to properly clamp the individual articles into place. However, any suitable clamping means could also be used to mechanically clamp the articles to be ornamented into plac3e6at the time they are inserted into the article holders Numerous features of the invention as previously described obviously would have utility regardless of the type of masking arrangement employed. However, applicants preferred mask as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 has certain important features which particularly lend themselves to the practical mass-production of engraved glass articles. Thus in addition to the general structure described above, the opening 118 in the plastic sheet 116 is slightly smaller than the corresponding opening 119 in the metal plate 104. This is an important feature since at the critical area, namely, the edges of the engraved design, the mask thickness is defined by the thickness of the plastic sheet 116 alone. However, without the metal backing plate 104 (or its equivalent), it would not be possible to force a suitable plastic masking sheet 116 against the glass with sufficient pressure to prevent the abrasive material from getting beneath the mask, which would cause a highly undesirable loss of definition.

Although the dimensions of the various materials may be varied, desirably the plastic sheet 116 should be as thin as possible within practical limitations, while the differential between the apertures 119 and 118 should be as much as possible but provide sufiicient supporting properties so as to tightly clamp the entire plastic sheet 116 against the article in order to prevent abrasive material from getting beneath the mask. Similarly, in view of this desired differential around each entire opening of the mask, it is necessary that the plastic sheet 116 be accurately aligned with respect to the metal backing plate 104. Thus the registration holes and 122 in the plastic sheet 116 and backing plate 104 should be very accurately formed (through by conventional means) and the two must be secured together so that no possible displacement during use will occur.

By slanting the edges of the openings through which blasting is to occur, it is possible to further improve the definition of the engraved article. However, if the edges are canted at too sharp an angle, the wear of the edges in the blast area may be too severe for practical purposes in a mass production machine. In accordance with another feature of the invention, where the openings 118 are die cut from the plastic material while it is flat, when the mask is curved into shape (as shown in exaggerated form in FIG. 7a), the outer portion 180 of the mask is stretched more than the inner portion 182, whereby the edges 184 and 186 defining the blasting aperture are slightly slanted with respect to each other, i.e. no longer parallel. It has been found that excellent results can be achieved by forming the plastic mask 116 from a material sold under the trademark Novitane by the B. F. Goodrich Company. A noticeable loss of definition has been observed where the plastic sheet 116 was more than A; inch in thickness, and to this extent, the mask thickness is critical. In the preferred embodiment, using polyurethane having a durometer reading of 86 the thickness of sheet 116 was of an inch, the plate 104 was made of twenty-two gauge steel, and the aperture differential Ax was approximately .015 inch. Although it is generally preferred that the mask edges be slanted as shown at 184 and 186, highly satisfactory results have also been attained with flat masks where the edges are actually parallel but the openings in the metal support 104 are slightly larger than the corresponding openings in the plastic sheet 116. In this case, the mask openings diverge away from the article to be ornamented even though the edges per se are not slanted.

After the mask has been assembled, it should be coated with a substance 188 which will provide some abrasion resistance for the bottom of the metal plate 104. For this purpose, a suitable substance is a liquid urethane elastomer sold under the trademark Adiprene-LIOO MOCA by Du Pont.

If problems are still encountered with abrasive material getting under the mask during the blasting operation, the

mask may be Wetted with avolatile liquid such as alcohol, in which case the problem will be completely eliminated. Water is not useable with fine abrasives for this purpose.

FIG. 8 shows the plastic sheet 116 (and of course the outline of the metal support) which would be applied at the second station 12 of FIGS. 1 and 2. This mask 190 includes the same cutout area 192 (shown cross hatched) corresponding to the cutout area of the mask illustrated in FIG. 6, and, in addition, a cutout area 194 which will expose an additional area of the glass article as it passes through the station 12 in accordance with the aforementioned Hewitt patent. Hence, when the glass article has passed through the stations 1 and 2, it will emerge with a deep area 192' (FIG. 9) and a shallower area 194 thereby creating a highly attractive three-dimensional engraved image.

As previously noted, it is not necessary that the mask or the blasting apparatus of the invention be used in accordance with the basic process of the Hewitt patent. Thus, the invention would be used with a single-step blasting process (to produce, for example, the design illustrated in FIG. 8) or it could be used where different areas of the article are uncovered and blasted to the same or a dilferent depth. For example, referring to FIGS. 10, b and c, if it were desired to produce an annular symbol such as the letter O, successive masks such as shown in FIGS. 10a and 1012, respectively, could be used in the stations 10 and 12 whereby the finished design would have the form shown in FIG. 10c. Of course, the techniques of FIGS. 10a, 10b and 6, 7 may be combined where desirable or necessary.

Although the invention has been described in reference to the ornamentation of generally cylindrical articles such as glass tumblers, it would obviously have utility in ornamenting flat articles such as ashtrays, coasters or the like where, for example, it may be desired to blast a design on the bottom (or top) of the article. For this purpose, essentially the same mechanism can be used to apply the mask to the article, but the article holder and the mask may be of substantially simplified construction. Also, the invention does not require the use of conveyor chains to insert the mask into the article holder, and any equivalent means for accomplishing this objective might as readily be employed. For example, circular conveyor means (chains or otherwise) could be used with the blasting stations arranged in a circle. Similarly, a camming mechanism or the like could be used to force the masks and article holders together, and numerous other modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

The blasting techniques required to practice the invention are known in the art, and here, also, various practical refinements are anticipated. Particularly, it is contemplated that the blasting nozzles 31, 32 and 33 will be fanned by any conventional structure to prevent striping and also to soften the delineation between cuts of different depths, particularly where the inventionis used to practice the invention of the Hewitt patent.

Also, the number of nozzles used in the various cabinets 14 will be determined by state of the art techniques. Similarly, the rate of movement of the conveyor chains will be determined in an obvious fashion though dependent to an extent upon the number of nozzles employed.

In the practice of the present invention, it has been found, surprisingly, that improved results can sometimes be achieved by utilizing the apparatus of this invention to practice the reverse of the Hewitt process in the sense that the shallower cut can be blasted first and the deeper cut(s) blasted thereafter. In other words, the masks of FIG. 8 would be applied to the article (at station 10) prior to the application of the mask shown in FIG. 6 (at station 12).

In utilizing the invention in this manner, accurate registry problems (in some cases) of successive masking operations are avoided, and, moreover, the sharp edge of the deeper cut makes the deeper cut appear deeper than when the edge is somewhat rounded in accordance with the Hewitt process.

In part of the plastic material 116 is removed from a piece of the metal 104, so that there is a gap between metal and glass, the edge of the unblasted area will be blurred or blended into the blasted area, which in some cases will create a pleasing effect.

When desired, different masks (e.g. representing the suits of a card deck) may be associated with a single station (such as 10 or 12), to produce, for example, sets of ornamented articles from a single station. Numerous other modifications will also be obvious to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for ornamenting articles, comprising abrasive blasting means for imparting a design to a glass article,

first conveyor means for carrying said articles past said abrasive blasting means,

a plurality of article holder means mounted on said first conveyor means, each of said holder means being adapted to retain an article to be ornamented,

station conveyor means associated with said abrasive blasting means,

a plurality of masks mounted on said station conveyor means, said masks containing openings through which the article is to be ornamented,

a plurality of mask carriers for carrying respective ones of said masks,

means for securing each of said masks to its associated mask carrier in a preselected position relative thereto,

means for applying said masks to respective ones of said articles and thereafter removing said masks from said articles, and

means for pressing said article and mask together while said article is moving past said abrasive means.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, whereineach of said article holder means includes a resilient chuck.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said conveyor means each comprises a continuous conveyor, at least a portion of said station conveyor adapted to move in tandem with and beneath a portion of said first conveyor during the ornamenting process, the distance between and alignment of the two continuous conveyors during such tandem movement being such that a mask can be inserted into an article holder and moved therewith past said design imparting means.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said continuous conveyors each comprises a pair of spaced conveyor chains.

5. Apparatus for ornamenting glass articles by abrasive blasting, comprising,

abrasive blasting means for emitting a stream of abrasive particles for the purpose of imparting a design to an article,

means for carrying said articles past the stream of abrasive particles emitted by said blasting means,

at least one article holder mounted on said carrying means and adapted to retain an article to be ornamented,

at least one mask containing openings for exposing the article to be ornamented to said abrasive particles,

at least one mask carrier for carrying said mask, said mask carrier and mask including cooperating means for positioning said mask in a preselected position relative to said mask carirer, said article holder including an opening adapted to receive said mask carrier and mask, with the mask being applied to said glass article to expose selected portions thereof to said abrasive particles, and

means for forcing said mask and glass article together while said carrying means is carrying said article past said blasting means.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said mask holder and said article carrier include cooperating means for preventing relative movement therebetween when a mask is applied to an article.

7. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said last named means comprises clamping means actuable as said glass article is moved past said abrasive blasting means.

8. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said article holder includes a resilient chuck having said opening in the bottom thereof.

9. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said mask comprises a reniforcing plate and a sheet of plastic material laminated to said plate, said plastic sheet adapted to contact the surafce of the glass article to be ornamented.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the openings of said reinforcing member are of similar shape but larger than the openings of said sheet, said openings being aligned so that the area abrasively blasted is defined substantially in its entirely by the edge of the opening of said plastic matreial, said reinforcing member adapted to supply sufficient pressure to said edge when the mask is urged against the article so as to substantially prevent abrasive particles from passing between said mask and a nonornamented area of said article.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said sheet is less than oneeighth of a ninch in thickness.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said sheet comprises a polyurethane.

13. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said mask comprises a re-enforcing plate and a sheet of plastic material laminated to said plate.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said mask carrier includes a base plate having upwardly extending support members for supporting said re-enforcing plate, and wherein said means for securing comprises detachable fasteners for fastening said re-enforcing plate to said base plate.

15. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said article holder further includes means detachably holding said resilient chuck, said chuck holding means being secured to said first conveyor means.

16. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said mask holders and chuck holding means include cooperating means for preventing relative movement therebetween when a mask is applied to an article.

17. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said abrasive blasting means includes nozzles adapted to expel abrasive particles in a generally upward direction.

18. Apparatus for onramenting a plurality of articles, comprising a plurality of spaced ornamenting stations, each of said stations including means for imparting a design to an article,

first conveyor means for carrying said articles through each of said stations,

a plurality of article holder means mounted on said first conveyor means, each of said holder means being adapted to retain an article to be ornamented and including an aperture for receiving a mask through which the ornamentation is to be applied to the article,

station conveyor means associated with each of said stations,

a plurality of masks mounted on each of said station conveyor means, said masks containing openings through which the article is to be ornamented, and

means for (a) applying said masks to respective ones of said articles by inserting said masks into successive one of said apertures and (b) thereafter withdrawing said masks from said apertures.

19. Apparatus according to claim 18, wherein a plurality of the masks connected to any one of said station conveyor means are identical, and wherein a plurality of the masks at another of said station conveyor means are identical but differ from said first named plurality of masks.

20. Apparatus according to claim 19, wherein masks associated with a second ornamenting station displaced in the direction of movement of said first conveyor from a first ornamenting station contain respective openings which include the openings of respective masks associated with said first ornamenting station.

21. Apparatus according to claim 20, wherein each of said conveyor means comprises a continuous conveyor.

22. Apparatus according to claim 21, wherein a portion of each of said station conveyors moves directly beneath the upper surface of said first conveyor such that the masks attached to said station conveyors contact the articles positioned within the article holder means attached to said first conveyor.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 767,362 8/1904 Phillips 51-310 1,839,731 1/1932 Baum. 2,034,308 3/1936 Morgan 513 10 X 2,327,668 8/ 1943 Rempel. 2,482,034 9/1949 Stevens 51--14 2,955,567 10/1960 Way et al. 118-301 3,328,925 7/ 1967 Hewitt 51-262 X HAROLD D. WHITEHEAD, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

